This invention relates to a method of sanitizing a drink supply system, a drink supply apparatus particularly adapted to use the method and to a manifold device which is also particularly adapted for use in the method and for use in the drink supply apparatus.
The dispensing of soft drinks and beer generally involves a dispensing head with suitable valves for dispensing a measured quantity of the drink and supply containers which are connected to the dispensing head by supply lines. As the dispensing head is often situated in a customer service area and the supply containers in a storage area there is often a fairly long length of the supply lines or hoses interconnecting the two.
The sanitizing of this equipment has of course long been known and is an essential requirement to avoid the build up of harmful bacteria which can develop particularly in the syrup supply lines of the post-mix dispensing type but also in the premixed type and also in the beer dispensing type. Conventionally however this sanitizing has been carried out irregularly and by service personnel who visit the premises especially to carry out the service and sanitizing procedure. This has meant that sanitizing has been looked upon as an inconvenience which must be suffered as infrequently as possible. This situation is however unsatisfactory to the consuming public.
Recent studies have however shown that not only can regular sanitizing be beneficial to the consuming public, it can also have economic advantages to the equipment user. This applies particularly in the post-mix syrup type dispensing equipment in which syrup is dispensed from the product containers under pressure from a carbon dioxide supply line and is at the dispensing head mixed with soda water to obtain the desired flavoured drink.
As time elapses after a previous sanitizing process, bacteria build up in the supply lines and in the dispensing head growing on the sugar filled syrup in the well known exponential manner. This growth leads to the development of what is known as black mold which apart from its unsavoury characteristics also tends to plug up valves and openings in the dispensing system. The post-mix dispensing system is particularly dependent upon the supply at the correct desired rate of the syrup into the soda water and this can be adjusted so that the syrup passes through small holes to mix thoroughly with the soda water. As the holes tend to plug up the mix varies and the user of the equipment has to adjust the mix manually to obtain a satisfactory tasting drink. The user thus manually compensates for the plugging of the small openings and generally tends to overcompensate thus increasing the amount of syrup used in any particular drink. This variation is not only unsatisfactory to the customer but also equally importantly can substantially increase the amount of syrup used in the drink.
In one study recently carried out by ensuring that the blockages do not occur and thus taking away the manual variation in the mix of syrup and water the number of drinks from a five gallon container of the supply syrup was increased from 250 to 400 thus substantially increasing the profit on a container or in other words reducing the costs of the operator.
Methods for sanitizing apparatus of this type are described and shown in my prior Canadian patent No. 983,661 and my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,536. However both of these techniques require the attendance of a service engineer to bring with him the necessary equipment and to carry out the sanitizing of the dispensing system. These methods while providing a satisfactory method of sanitizing are disadvantageous in that the visit of the service engineer may not be sufficiently regular, is costly and is also inconvenient that the dispensing equipment must be shut down for the period of the visit.